a new leader with a different spirit.
one of the board members, joseph franklin rutherford, was a lawyer who was active in politics before coming into the truth.
before pastor russells death, the pastor had dismissed rutherford from bethel and provided him funds for a new start in california.
It took me awhile to find it but here is the link! it had alot more info. It told alot about the groups that broke away and so forth. I'm not saying i subscribe to everything written because i did not read everything there. thx
http://www.theforbiddenknowledge.com/hardtruth/dirty_watchtower_secrets_pt2.htm
letter by dr. julius mantey - .
misquoted by the watchtower society.
http://caic.org.au/jws/theology/mantey.htm.
Letter by Dr. Julius Mantey -
Misquoted by the Watchtower Society
http://caic.org.au/jws/theology/mantey.htm
Dear Sirs:
I have a copy of your letter addressed to Caris in Santa Ana, California, and I am writing to express my disagreement with statements made in that letter, as well as in quotations you have made from the Dana-Mantey Greek Grammar.
(1) Your statement: "their work allows for the rendering found in the Kingdom Interlinear Translation of the Greek Scriptures at John 1:1," There is no statement in our grammar that was ever meant to imply that "a god" was a permissible translation in John 1:1.
A. We had no "rule" to argue in support of the trinity.
B. Neither did we state that we did have such intention. We were simply delineating the facts inherent in Biblical language.
C. You quotation from p. 148 (3) was a paragraph under the heading: "With the subject in a Copulative Sentence." Two examples occur here to illustrate that "the article points out the subject in these examples." But we made no statement in this paragraph about the predicate except that, "as it stands the other persons of the trinity may be implied ;in theos." And isn't that the opposite of what your translation "a god" infers? You quoted me out of context. On pages 139 and 140 (VI) in our grammar we stated: "without the article, theos signifies divine essence...'theos en ho logos' emphasizes Christ's participation in the essence of the divine nature." Our interpretation is in agreement with that in NEB and TED: "What God was, the Word was"; and with that of Barclay: "The nature of the Word was the same as the nature of God," which you quoted in you letter to Caris.
(2) Since Colwell's and Harner's article in JBL, especially that of Harner, it is neither scholarly nor reasonable to translate John 1:1 "The Word was a god." Word-order has made obsolete and incorrect such a rendering.
(3) Your quotation of Colwell's rule is inadequate because it quotes only a part of his findings. You did not quote this strong assertion: "A predicate nominative which precedes the verb cannot be translated as an indefinite or a 'qualitative' noun solely because of the absence of the article."
(4) Prof. Harner, Vol 92:1 in JBL, has gone beyond Colwell's research and has discovered that anarthrous predicate nouns preceding the verb function primarily to express the nature or character of the subject. He found this true in 53 passages in the Gospel of John and 8 in the Gospel of Mark. Both scholars wrote that when indefiniteness was intended that gospel writers regularly placed the predicate noun after the verb, and both Colwell and Harner have stated that theos in John 1:1 is not indefinite and should not be translated "a god." Watchtower writers appear to be the only ones advocating such a translation now. The evidence appears to be 99% against them.
(5) Your statement in your letter that the sacred text itself should guide one and "not just someone's rule book." We agree with you. But our study proves that Jehovah's Witnesses do the opposite of that whenever the "sacred text" differs with their heretical beliefs. For example the translation of kolasis as cutting off when punishment is the only meaning cited in the lexicons for it. The mistranslation of ego eimi as "I have been" in John 8:58, the addition of "for all time" in Heb. 9:27 when nothing in the Greek New Testament support is. The attempt to belittle Christ by mistranslating arche tes kriseos "beginning of the creation" when he is magnified as the "creator of all things" (John 1:2) and as "equal with God" (Phil. 2:6) before he humbled himself and lived a human body on earth. Your quotation of "The father is greater than I am, (John 14:28) to prove that Jesus was not equal to God overlooks the fact stated in Phil 2:6-8. When Jesus said that he was still in his voluntary state of humiliation. That state ended when he ascended to heaven. Why the attempt to deliberately deceive people by mispunctuation by placing a comma after "today" in Luke 23:43 when in the Greek, Latin, German and all English translations except yours, even in the Greek in you KIT, the comma occurs after lego (I say) - "Today you will be with me in Paradise." 2 Cor 5:8, "to be out of the body and at home with the Lord."
These passages teach that the redeemed go immediately to heaven after death, which does not agree with your teachings that death ends all life until the resurrection. (Ps. 23:6 and Heb 1:10)
The afore mentioned are only a few examples of Watchtower mistranslations and perversions of Gods Word.
In view of the preceding facts, especially because you have been quoting me out of context, I herewith request you not to quote the Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament again, which you have been doing for 24 years. Also that you not quote it or me in any of your publications from this time on. Also that you publicly and immediately apologize in the Watchtower magazine, since my words had no relevance to the absence of the article before theos in John 1:1. And please write to Caris and state that you misused and misquoted my "rule."
On the page before the preface in the grammar are these words: "All rights reserved - no part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher."
If you have such permission, please send me a photo-copy of it. If you do not heed these requests you will suffer the consequences.
Regretfully yours,
Julius R. Mantey
a new leader with a different spirit.
one of the board members, joseph franklin rutherford, was a lawyer who was active in politics before coming into the truth.
before pastor russells death, the pastor had dismissed rutherford from bethel and provided him funds for a new start in california.
A NEW LEADER WITH A DIFFERENT SPIRIT
One of the board members, Joseph Franklin Rutherford, was a lawyer who was active in politics before coming into the Truth. Before Pastor Russell’s death, the Pastor had dismissed Rutherford from Bethel and provided him funds for a new start in California. When Pastor Russell died, Rutherford was working as a floorwalker in a department store. Upon hearing of the Pastor’s death, he telegraphed Bethel and told them to hold everything until he arrived. At the time of his death, Pastor Russell was in process of making several changes in the Bethel family, and evidently had not yet updated the members of the board of directors. Since he no longer wanted Rutherford at Bethel, it is doubtful that he wanted him on the board of directors in event of his death.
Rutherford was an extremely forceful, self-seeking character. By legal tricks and maneuvers, he was able to avoid the will’s intent and directives to establish himself as President of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, contrary to the wishes of the majority of the Board of Directors. ”Judge” Joseph Franklin Rutherford usurped total control of the Society and became an absolute dictator. While in legal practice, he had once served briefly as a temporary fill-in judge and thus retained the title of “judge” by which he was often referred to. He became the Watchtower’s legal counsel in 1907; one year after he was baptized, and the same year Pastor Russell’s will was drawn up (June 29, 1907). His first contact with the Truth was in 1894.
Rutherford apparently felt that he needed something to establish his position and show leadership capabilities. He was an accomplished public speaker, a skill honed in politics, but others were also. He decided to quickly publish a new book and rush it into print without consulting or receiving approval from the editorial committee as required by Pastor Russell’s will. Two brothers, both from Scranton, Pennsylvania, had developed material for treatises on Ezekiel (George H. Fisher) and Revelation (Clayton J. Woodworth), while Brother Russell still lived. These were hastily completed and combined into one book published in the summer of 1917, the same year the United States entered the war in Europe (April 6, 1917). The Judge released the book on July 7, 1917, the same day he announced the replacement of four WTBTS directors, named by Pastor Russell in his will, with directors of his own choosing. It was falsely proclaimed to be the posthumous work of Pastor Russell. The book was titled the “Finished Mystery” and presented as Pastor Russell’s long expected “Seventh Volume.” It was laced with quotations from Pastor Russell’s writings, which supposedly supported the prophetic theories of the two authors.
One theory, held by the authors, was an expectation that the last members of the church class would die violent deaths at the hands of political and religious leaders in response to a brief but powerful Bible Student message critical of their sinful practices. Consequently, the “Finished Mystery” was written in this spirit and contained harsh condemnations of the government, the churches of America and their leaders. At the same time, Rutherford admonished all young Bible Students, subject to the draft, to oppose military service as conscientious objectors.
The government took swift action against what it considered sedition. In May 1918, federal arrest warrants were issued for Rutherford and 6 other top Society officers. In June 1918, all were sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for conspiracy, and sent off to a federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia. This was what we might call today a country club prison. The prisoners were allowed the freedom of walking and talking together while playing tennis.
According to provisions in the WTBTS charter and Pastor Russell’s will, direction of the Society resided in its seven board members who were now in prison. Bethel workers left behind in Brooklyn without leadership pondered what to do with the now headless Society.
In August 1918, with its principal leaders in prison, the Society shut down the New York office, sold the Brooklyn Tabernacle, closed the Bethel home, and moved back to Pittsburgh.
In March 1919, after the war ended in November 1918, the imprisoned Society leaders were released from prison under $10,000 bail. To escape his prison sentence, “Judge” Rutherford had made a deal with the government. So much for dying at the hands of the government and ending the church’s earthly course in glorious martyrdom.
It was agreed that Bible Students should cut out certain offensive pages from the “Finished Mystery”, the false “Seventh Volume”, and that the Society would cease printing them. Some followed government orders and cut out pages 245 to 254 in chapter 16, titled “Ecclesiasticisms Seven Plagues”, while others ignored the government edict. This chapter applied the “seven last plagues” of the book of Revelation to Pastor Russell’s 6 Volumes of Studies in the Scriptures and Rutherford’s new “Seventh Volume”. The “Finished Mystery” was claimed to be the hail plague. Many Bible Students, fearful that all their Volumes would be confiscated, hid them in cellars and attics or buried them in the back yard. To this day, some old Volumes retain a musty smell from this treatment.
Young Bible Students were still in prison. Bible Students everywhere were suffering ignominy in the eyes of their neighbors, while Rutherford was making legal deals to escape prison time. Many Bible Students were incensed at the perfidy of the man who had wrestled control of the Society from the hands of its legally appointed administrators.
JUDGE’S ACTIONS CAUSE THOUSANDS TO DEPART
Bible Students left the Society by the thousands. It was no longer the organization they had known under Pastor Russell. They recognized the noble, holy, spirit of Christ in Pastor Russell, but the new head was an entirely different type of leader: a scheming, cunning man with a dictatorial spirit. The first book Rutherford published after Pastor Russell’s death, “The Finished Mystery”, was a very different kind of book than Pastor Russell’s “Studies in the Scriptures.” One doesn’t find the spirit of Pastor Russell in the “The Finished Mystery,” nor does one find the spirit of the “Finished Mystery” in Pastor Russell’s writings. Some perceived the difference, and some did not.
Among the dissenters who departed, the burning question became, “What do we do now”? This question has not gone away.
Bible Students expected the Gospel Age to end about 1914 and the earthly kingdom to follow swiftly. As 1914 approached, Pastor Russell saw that much was still left to be done in God’s plan before the full establishment of God’s Kingdom in Earth and God’s will be done as it is in heaven. He repeatedly warned the Brethren, but expectations were high and ears dull. 1914 came and went and the Brethren were still here. The date 1918 seemed likely, and hopes were transferred to that date. It also passed, and hopes were advanced to 1925. This date also proved to be another disappointment, as have numerous hoped for dates since then.
After Pastor Russell died, the Bible Student movement divided roughly in two in the years 1917 to 1918: half stayed with the Society, now called the “Channel”, with Rutherford at its head, while the other half, who opposed Rutherford, showed their opposition by leaving. The dissenters went several different directions as they refused to be associated with an organization dominated by a man of such questionable character as “Judge” Rutherford. By 1930-32, about 75% had left of their own accord, or had been forced out by Rutherford, who tolerated no opposition of any kind.
In 1922 in Romania, Rutherford ordered the Romanian Brethren to print only material issued from New York. In 1924, nearly 100% of the Romanian brethren left the Society after Rutherford sold the presses upon which they were printing Truth literature.
Similar actions occurred throughout the Bible Student world.
This sad picture of what happened to the Society following Pastor Russell’s death is the basis for understanding the Bible Student movement since then.
A NEW NAME FOR A NEW MOVEMENT
The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society and its other legal entities became the sole domain of Rutherford until his death, January 8, 1942. At a convention in Columbus, Ohio, July 24-30, 1931, Rutherford renamed the Society the “Jehovah’s Witnesses.” While we may show compassion towards those deceived by him, we can no longer think of the Society after Rutherford took over, as the Society that Pastor Russell founded. Under its new autocratic head, it had become the enemy of sincere, truth seeking, thinking Bible Students, whatever other good it might have done. For Bible Students eager to witness to the Truth in our day, the stigma of the Jehovah’s Witnesses still attaches to us in the public mind and hinders every effort to represent God’s present Truth to the world.
NEW TEACHINGS FOR THE NEW MOVEMENT
While we leave a detailed history of the Jehovah’s Witnesses to others, we note their numerous departures from the Truth and its spirit.
Their claim that Pastor Russell is their founder is patently false. Rutherford founded the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Some viewed this move as a marketing stroke of genius.
Their belief that only living Jehovah’s Witnesses pass through the time of trouble into the blessings of Christ’s kingdom on Earth assigns all the rest of mankind, over 6 billion living persons, to second death with no further hope for life. How ludicrous, that one visit from a Jehovah’s Witness constitutes one’s trial for eternal life. This teaching is a denial of the ransom without directly so stating. Such a spirit is in total opposition to the spirit of God’s love, justice and merciful plan for all mankind.
Claiming to be walking in the light, book after book presented new teachings, the latest often contradicting the former. Jehovah’s Witnesses had to read the last edition of the Watchtower magazine to know what was currently accepted as truth.
Some notions were particularly revolting. Since all of mankind not converted to the Jehovah’s Witnesses (over 99.9 percent) was expected to die the second death in Armageddon, this would leave the earth almost void of population. Thus it was taught that the “Jonadab” class, Jehovah Witness couples, would re-populate it.
Eventually, in 1939, the Ransom was totally denied by refusing Adam a resurrection.
The Society’s departure from the Truth did not happen all at once. It was a gradual dilution and perversion of the Truth by substituting new teachings for old. After publishing the “Finished Mystery” in 1917, Rutherford published a book, apparently of his own writing, in October 1, 1921 titled, “The Harp of God.” In general, this book held quite closely to the Truth, but made the rash speculation that, “Millions Living Will Never Die.”
For a while the Judge continued to publish Pastor Russell’s “Studies in the Scriptures.” Then, in 1924, he ceased their publication. In October 1920, Rutherford re-published Pastor Russell’s “Tabernacle Shadows” along with 23 pages of his own added footnote changes to Pastor Russell’s text. These expressed his own, often contrary Tabernacle views.
In 1919, the Society published the green “Reprints” of the Watch Tower magazine, beginning with the first edition in 1879 and including issues up to 1919. In 1920, the remaining supply was sold to the Pastoral Bible Institute, and made available to the Brethren for $2.50.
A NEW FINANCIAL OPERATION
Note the sharp contrast between the Society’s financial operation under Pastor Russell and under Judge Rutherford. Under Pastor Russell’s administration, the Society received voluntary donations and used these to finance the witness work, giving away free tracts and selling books at cost or slightly above. Under Rutherford, the Society was organized as a large printing operation to cheaply print books and sell them for a handsome profit. The Society was no longer solely dependant upon contributions from supporters, as in the past. It now generated funds from a well-organized and profitable book selling operation. Labor costs were almost non-existent, since brethren volunteered their time and labor for subsistence compensation. This change funded Rutherford’s ambitious expansion plans, and freed the Society from money worries.
The dissenters, who walked out, had neither Pastor nor Society. Those who remained had no Pastor, but they had what they viewed as the “Channel”. The proposition was put forth that even though bad characters might prevail, the Society is still the “Channel”. It reminds one of Papacy’s past claims. Many have labored long and hard, enslaved to the false notion of “Channelism.”
The dissenters on the other hand were on their own, cast adrift upon a sea of uncertainty. What do we do now? The sheep were scattered without a shepherd. Yet our Good Shepherd is always there, watching over his true church even unto the end. God always provides
LOL mY bAD! just wanted it confirmed. thx
(1corinthians11:3)3 but i want you to know that the head of every man is the christ; in turn the head of a woman is the man; in turn the head of the christ is god.
so woman answers to man, man to christ, christ to god...... .
are woman held accountable to christ at his return or at the end of the millenial reign?.
I wanted to add to that so nobody is confused. I did not mean the woman was cursed but was given curses like the pains and the craving for her husband and she would be dominated.
Man got his curses too!
Society has dominated women and still do making them out to be lesser then men!
We can see that now women can be just as intelligent as any man or even alot smarter!
I think women are just as accountable as men!
(1corinthians11:3)3 but i want you to know that the head of every man is the christ; in turn the head of a woman is the man; in turn the head of the christ is god.
so woman answers to man, man to christ, christ to god...... .
are woman held accountable to christ at his return or at the end of the millenial reign?.
That might have to do with Gods cursing of the woman after the eating of the fuit! For the man the Earth was cursed so he would struggle to grow food.
Genesis 3:16 (King James Version)
Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. |
3:17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; |
3:18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; |
3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. |
this is a letter off the internet.
are the things he says about spirtualism true where they wanted to bury brother rutherford at sunrise?
(this letter was written in june 1994 to fellow jws.
It's true what he says about the Watchtower not even taking care of there own people. This organization is only concerned about expanding it's membership and nothing more. Keep your mouth shut and follow the rules . What a sick place! But i'm so happy i'm still young and found out the real truth! Thank You
this is a letter off the internet.
are the things he says about spirtualism true where they wanted to bury brother rutherford at sunrise?
(this letter was written in june 1994 to fellow jws.
Cool! Thank You!
Did He just say SOB ? Son of a Bitch?
this is a letter off the internet.
are the things he says about spirtualism true where they wanted to bury brother rutherford at sunrise?
(this letter was written in june 1994 to fellow jws.
This is a letter off the internet. Are the things he says about Spirtualism true where they wanted to bury brother Rutherford at sunrise?
(This letter was written in June 1994 to fellow JWs to explain why I was leaving their organization.) 
I went from house-to-house for the Watchtower Society for 50 years. As I did, I became acquainted with many good and sincere people who were not Jehovah's Witnesses but who showed a love for God and neighbour. They claimed to be and I now view them as Christians to the best of their knowledge and ability. I believe they will be rewarded for their faith in God and Jesus, though they never have read or never will read The Watchtower. In other words, I no longer believe that a person must be one of Jehovah's Witnesses in order to receive salvation to everlasting life. Jesus said, "EVERYONE believing in him may have everlasting life." He said nothing about membership in or faithful service within any organization. -- John 3:15, 16. I do not believe that God's holy spirit is operating upon the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses. Instead, my study of the Society's publications has revealed that there is a spiritistic foundation to the teachings of Charles Taze Russell, and his writings continue to this day to influence the direction in which the Governing Body is taking the organization. I believe the Society's basic message about a kingdom government born in heaven in 1914 is completely out of harmony with the simple teaching of the Bible that when Jesus returns "every eye will see him." (Revelation 1:7) I do not want to be classed by God as accursed for accepting or teaching a so-called "good news" that is different from what the apostles taught. -- Galatians 1:8. I am convinced that many other teachings of the Society are contrary to the teachings of the Bible. For example: Matthew 28:19 says baptism is to be in the name of the Father, Son and holy spirit, but the June 1, 1985 Watchtower magazine substitutes "spirit-directed organization" for "holy spirit." Luke 21:34-36 and other scriptures show that we each INDIVIDUALLY must be faithful and discreet in caring for what the Master has entrusted to us, but the Society says only "the remnant" AS A GROUP are the "slave" of Matthew 24:45-51. See Matthew 25:13-30; Luke 12:48; 16:10-13; 1 Corinthians 4:2; Hebrews 3:12; 1 Peter 4:10,11; and Revelation 16:15. Acts 3:20-23 shows Jesus alone is the Greater Moses and God's prophet, but the June 1 and September 1, 1982 issues of The Watchtower urge an attitude that views the WATCHTOWER ORGANIZATION as such. This, even though the organization has rarely, if ever, guessed right about future events! Acts 10:38 makes it noteworthy that Jesus "went through all the land doing good and healing" the oppressed people, and other religions build hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, etc., for their own if not also for others. But the Watchtower Society chooses to use its millions upon millions of dollars to build more and more comfortable Bethel homes instead of helping even its own sick, handicapped, and elderly. Acts 15:20,29 tells Gentile Christians to "abstain" from blood, and the Watch Tower Society applies this to blood transfusions. But the scriptural context clearly shows that the purpose of the recommendation was to avoid creating great offense for Jews. C. T. Russell understood this, saying in the April 15, 1909 Watch Tower on page 117: "The things here recommended were necessary to a preservation of the fellowship of the 'body' composed of Jews and Gentiles with their different education and sentiments." Think of the awesome bloodguilt resting upon the Governing Body if Russell was correct! Romans 12:3 warns against thinking too highly of oneself, but with no credentials at all, the Watchtower Society assigns itself the role of God's spokesman and the administrator of all Christ's interests on earth. We belong to Christ, according to 2 Corinthians 1:21, 24, and not even the apostles were 'masters over our faith,' but the Watchtower Society constantly attempts to impose on our minds what it describes as "the great body of truths" that it has produced. Thus the Society has its own organizational creed, something it condemns in other churches. 1 Timothy 2:5 says there is "one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus," but the Society says Jesus is not the mediator for those with an earthly hope. Hebrews 4:16 says we can "approach with freeness of speech to the throne of undeserved kindness," not because the Watchtower Society died for us, but because Jesus did. Hebrews 10:19-22 shows Jesus eliminated the division between a priestly class and a non-priestly class, but The Watchtower describes the "anointed remnant" as "the priestly class" and "the great crowd" as "spiritual Gentiles." See page 80, paragraph 15, of the book, Paradise Restored to Mankind -- By Theocracy. The greatest testimony against the Watchtower Society is its own literature. The above instances simply skim the surface. The Society seems incapable of letting the Scriptures speak for themselves. It must nearly always give a symbolic or "spiritual" meaning to a text. The Society's history given in the book Jehovah's Witnesses Proclaimers of God's Kingdoms, released in 1993, often hides what is related in the older history Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose and other publications. Whenever there is something good to report about the organization, the book is quick to tell us. But what about all the bad things that have gone on? The older book makes a reference to C. T. Russell's account of his troubles with his wife, Maria. I read the account in The Watch Tower of 1906 and could not help but feel that Russell was an arrogant and overbearing male who showed no consideration for his wife even when she was very ill and even though he acknowledged that no woman on earth was as devoted to and supportive of her husband as Maria. His defence in his own words of his relationship with other women is weak and suspicious. No wonder the judge and jury wasted no time in granting Mrs. Russell the divorce she was seeking and that he opposed. On page 201, the Proclaimers book acknowledges that "For some 35 years, Pastor Russell thought that the Great Pyramid of Gizeh was God's stone witness, corroborating Biblical time periods." What is not stated is that Russell was one of the world's greatest advocates of pyramidology, a spiritistic religion. His writings, diagrams and charts about pyramids are virtually the same as those that appear in any book on pyramidology. These books are usually located in the "Occult" section of any library or bookstore. Even J. F. Rutherford acknowledged that it was Satan who put it into Russell's mind to figure out God's purposes by studying the Pyramid of Gizeh, that the pyramid is "Satan's Bible, and not God's stone witness." (The Watch Tower of November 15, 1928, page 344) Russell was under this influence of the Devil at least from 1881 (2 years after the birth of The Watch Tower) until he died in 1916. He was buried in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. But first he was embalmed, and then he was placed in a grave that is now marked with a huge tombstone in the form of a pyramid which, curiously, has emblems of the Masonic Lodge engraved upon it. And, as shown in his articles on the zodiac, Russell also believed in astrology and the horoscope. And for nearly half of his presidency, Rutherford believed the same. Pyramid worship led Rutherford to believe that millions living in 1920 would never die and that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would return in 1925 and live at "Beth-Sarim" in San Diego, California. Not the Bible, but Russell's belief in pyramidology is the basis for his date setting. He said the last days began in 1799, Christ's presence began in 1874, the heavenly resurrection began in 1878, the heavenly calling ended in 1881, and the end of the world and the resurrection of "the anointed on earth" would take place in 1914. All his prophecies failed, yet the Society still holds to the 1914 date, but with a different application. The Society claims this date is established by Bible chronology that starts with the destruction of Jerusalem in 607 BC. However, not even one reputable scholar agrees with the Society that Jerusalem was destroyed that year. So, in the face of all this scholarly opposition, the Society unashamedly claims its own scholarship is superior. Due to Russell's and Rutherford's practices of spiritism, millions of Jehovah's Witnesses are banking on Armageddon to come within the next few years. Just as Russell and Rutherford deceived the "International Bible Students" in their day, the teachings of the Governing Body are deceiving Jehovah's Witnesses today. Nathan H. Knorr was also addicted to spiritualism. As shown in the May 27, 1942 issue of Consolation, Knorr and the Society went to court over a silly matter having to do with their fanciful belief in "the King of the East, and the Chief King of the Sunrising," calling for Rutherford to be buried at "Beth-Sarim" at sunrise! Knorr lost the case, but his action postponed Rutherford's burial for three and a half months after he died! And since Fred Franz was a prominent member of the Society during the presidencies of Rutherford and Knorr, I have to conclude that he too was a spiritualist. No wonder his prophecies on the world's end for the 1940's and for 1975 did not come true. Nor will his prediction regarding the "generation" of Matthew 24:34. Incidentally, though we have often thought of Fred Franz as some sort of amazing Bible and language scholar, in the door-to-door work I have met rural church pastors and Sunday school teachers who I believe know just as much Bible Hebrew and Greek as he did. -- Matthew 24:23-26, 44. The Society claims to be an advancing into more and greater light, but over the decades it has bounced back and forth on doctrine. The true God speaks and teaches eternal truths, but not the Watchtower Society..With Him there is never a variation or a shadow of a turning. -- James 1:17. I personally resent the Society's campaign of whitewashing the record of its presidents. Those who know the true story are being treated as fools. The Proclaimers book on page 693 says Rutherford wrote a letter to Hitler. This is in the context of 'facing Nazi oppression.' But Rutherford's letter, published in The Yearbook of 1934, PRAISES Hitler for his anti-Anglo/America campaign and his plan to get rid of the Jews! As another example, in The Watchtower of August 1, 1994, page 23, Robert Hatzfeld is quoted as saying regarding Rutherford, "Many of the younger brothers at Bethel were somewhat intimidated by him until they got to know him." Yet, when I was at Brooklyn Bethel, and even before, I saw old-timers wince as they spoke of Rutherford's bad language, drinking, and tyrannical ways. He was even sued by ex-Bethelite Olin Moyle on these matters, and Moyle won the case! I was also told that thousands of JWs in Germany died before Hitler's firing squads because Rutherford told them Jehovah would not allow them to be executed since they were among the 'millions now living' who would never die. Knorr was not much better. All the days at Bethel that I knew him, he was like an aloof businessman who had little regard for others. He ruled Bethel like a stern boss, and nearly everyone feared the man. I remember days when he ridiculed and ranted for as much as an hour against those who displeased him and whom he had lined against the dining room wall before the entire "Bethel family." At Bethel in Brooklyn and Canada there is little regard for other people's spiritual or emotional problems. Rarely if ever is Matthew 18 applied. If you approach someone with authority, he does little if anything to assist you. Rather, you can expect to be patronized and told simply to "wait on Jehovah." If you return with your problem days or weeks later, you stand a likely chance of being accused of having an obsession of some sort. At Brooklyn headquarters we were at times advised from the table head to exercise care due to theft going on within the Bethel family. Not just a few cases of marital infidelity, drunkenness and alcoholism, wild parties, and even homosexual practices are among the reasons some are dismissed from Bethel. We smile at the failure of the Catholic Church when we hear about a priest molesting little children. We certainly would not smile if we were told truthfully about all the cases of child abuse, wife abuse, divorce and youth delinquency that can be found in many of our congregations. And we ALL claim that we are CHRISTIAN MINISTERS! The Society has stated that about one percent are disfellowshiped each year and that the majority of cases have to do with immorality. One gets disfellowshiped for not showing repentance, and lack of repentance is indicated by not taking the initiative to come forth and confess. What this means is that one percent of JWs get caught as fornicators, adulterers and homosexuals. How many others are secretly doing these things who do NOT get caught? It often takes a lot of effort and investigation to discover that someone is engaging in such secret practices. Still, about 40,000 are found out and thrown out each year! How many other tens of thousands or more have not yet been exposed as the immoral persons that they are? Many other religions place strong emphasis on Christian conduct. I think we stand above all of them as having the worst record when it comes to blatant dishonesty and immorality. You don't have to be an elder involved for some time with judicial matters to understand what I'm saying. Still, we boast about what a "clean organization" we are because we disfellowship wrongdoers, seemingly being incapable of noting that those wrongdoers did their wrong while they were INSIDE the organization. By falsely claiming, even bragging, that we are a clean organization, we are imitating, not Jesus, but the Pharisee in his parable who felt very assured of his righteousness. He appeared exemplary on the surface due to his regularity in the service of fasting and tithing and by his abstaining from certain condemned acts. In reality he was outstanding only by his self-praise. -- LuKE 18:9-14. I believe these problems exist because the Watchtower Society tries to take the place of Jesus as Head of the congregation. It stands in the way of our having a personal relationship with God because it wants to be the only "channel," "spokesman" and "watchman" for Jehovah's Witnesses. No human authority can motivate our minds and hearts as well as He who is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, no matter how much that human governing authority tries to get its people to ACKNOWLEDGE AND ADORE ITSELF RATHER THAN HIM. In its efforts to hold high the name of Jehovah, the Society has overlooked the scripture that says, "He that does not honour the Son [including his office as Mediator and Head of the congregation] does not honour the Father who sent him." -- John 5:23. We hear over and over again that we have "the truth," that we are God's ONLY organization, and that we are the ONLY people practising true love. Our experience is so limited because ALL WE KNOW is what we are taught by the Watchtower Society. We are urged to read only the publications of the Society and to use only its Bible. If one keeps hearing something often enough, he will believe it. Because the Society says the good news is being preached "in all the inhabited earth," we believe it, even though the Society's message is reaching only a very small fraction of earth's population and very few of THEM actually know what we stand for. Because the Society says we should preach from house-to-house, we do it, even though such activity is a nuisance to most householders and turns many against God and the Bible as well as against Jehovah's Witnesses. Our children are told not to go to college because it will corrupt them, but those who have done the most good for mankind have generally been those who have not been content with a mere surface education. God bestowed beautiful talents within each of us to be developed and used to his glory and praise. But we stay under-educated because the Society keeps us so busy with its constant activities and demands upon our limited time. As individuals and as congregations we should be administered according to the rule of the Word of God, not according to man-made rules such as are contained in the Watchtower Society's Organization book. The Society has over the years liberally plagiarized from Christendom's commentaries. Still, it would like us to think there is nowhere else to go. Peter said, not to the Watchtower Society, but to Jesus, "YOU have sayings of everlasting life!" While preaching and in other ways, I have met members of churches and groups who also believe that they are teaching "the glorious good news about the Christ." And they won't disfellowship you if your Bible-trained conscience can't accept everything they say! They are learning and growing too. The triumphant Christian congregation has Jesus Christ as its Head and not any human governor or governing body of men. I love you all very much and will miss your association and friendship. I have no illusions about being exempted from the Society's wrathful view of those who reject its teachings. Rather than warm my heart so as to want to return someday, its self-centered and misguided manner of attempting to keep its organization clean has cooled me toward the Watchtower Society forever. I am sure an announcement will be made against me. I am not promoting a sect when I say you should read and study the Bible and let it speak to you for itself. It is God's love letter to you personally, and its message is not intended to be slanted for you by an organization that thinks it loves you more than He does. Sincerely, Frank J. Toth 4465 Idlewilde Crescent Mississauga, Ontario L5M 4E8 Canada Email: [email protected]
